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Sky Raider
The Sky Raider, also known as the pirate fighter, is a type of plane in The Lost Frontier. It is used both as a fighter and a racing plane by pirate pilots, and Jak even gained one of his own as well. Phoenix used his own custom Sky Raider, which had a gray and gold paint job with an extra set of wings. Dirk Hardpeck and other pirate racers also used custom Raiders, which were much larger than Jak's and had unique paint jobs. History Sky Raiders first appeared in the prologue of The Lost Frontier, three of them chasing after Jak, Daxter, and Keira's Hellcat on their way to the Brink. Daxter quickly disposed of two with the Hellcat's tailgun, but the third flew away as they approached the Phantom Blade. Sky Raiders were again encountered during the second mission, "Shoot down the pirate raiders", but this time in much larger numbers. They had ambushed the seemingly defenseless [[ACS Behemoth|ACS Behemoth]], thus Jak defended it by shooting the pirates down. Phoenix's personal Sky Raider made its appearance before and during the mission "Go after Phoenix". He used it to flee Aeropa after napping the eco seeker, as well as Keira. Jak thus chased after him, even using Daxter to jack the lock-on missile on Phoenix's plane. The chase ended with yet another Sky Raider ambush, Phoenix directing his fighters to shoot Jak's engines. After agreeing to a truce demanded by Keira, Phoenix gifted a Sky Raider to Jak as a gesture of goodwill, likely to charm Keira, which Klout, the first mate of the pirates' Phantom Blade, deemed excessive. From here on out, small groups of Sky Raiders can be seen deployed around any area where the Phantom Blade docks. They show up as green arrows to indicate they are now allies. Much later in the game, a Sky Raider was used as a bomber, executing an airstrike on a small building in Aeropa in order to assist Jak during their siege. Appearance The Sky Raider has an interesting profile due to its front-most twin turboprop engines with the cockpit situated between them in the back. There are two large wings on either side of the vehicle, with two smaller wings above those, though all four are fairly small relative to the engines. Interestingly Jak's Raider lacks a roof for the cockpit, only having a front windshield. Phoenix, Hardpeck, NPC fighters, and the other racers all have roofs and side windows by contrast. All Sky Raiders have the same overall texture pattern, though there are subtle design differences in Phoenix's, and all except Jak's and the fighters have a unique paint job. Performance The Sky Raider has a decent speed, likely due to its use as an assailant and racing plane, as displayed in the first cutscene of the game and the plane races, respectively. Its small size imparts appreciable evasiveness but allows for scant armor and thus lesser strength. Its wide, forward center of gravity impedes its turn rate, only slightly tilting on its forward axis when turning, which can sometimes detract from its elusive size. The Sky Raider is a noticeable upgrade from the Hellcat in terms of plane weapons and mods load-out, having five total weapon slots, five mod slots, and a bonus ground attack rocket slot. In terms of weapons, only Jak's Raider is equipped with the Punisher, while the AI planes, including the racers, use a generic, red-colored machine gun. Both Jak and Phoenix were seen to use their Raider's ground attack rocket, the latter in "Go after Phoenix", used to destroy barriers. Gallery Phoenix's Sky Raider render.png|Phoenix's Sky Raider. NPC Sky Raider render.png|NPC Sky Raider. References Category:Planes Category:Sky Pirates